Mount Elbrus vs. Grozny-City Feud between Kadyrov and right-wing nationalists prompts Russian Central Bank to cancel vote for new banknote design

Russia’s Central Bank has suspended its public vote for the design of a new 500-ruble banknote after Chechen Governor Ramzan Kadyrov’s attempts to ensure his preferred design won were met with backlash from right-wing nationalists. Though the bank didn’t explicitly name Kadyrov or his far-right opponents, it cited “numerous attempts to use technical means to artificially boost votes.” The bank vowed to relaunch the vote with a less manipulable process later on, though it didn’t say when or how this would happen. Here’s how the feud went down.

On October 1, the Russian Central Bank launched a vote to determine the reverse-side design of a new 500-ruble banknote (worth about $6). The bill would feature landmarks from the North Caucasus Federal District, and the front side had already been chosen: a monument in Pyatigorsk, the district’s capital.

On October 4, Chechen Governor Ramzan Kadyrov posted on Telegram urging people to vote for Grozny-City, a hotel and business complex in the Chechen capital. “Grozny-City isn’t just a building or a business center,” he wrote. “It symbolizes our victory over international terrorism, the revival of the Chechen Republic as part of Russia, and the start of a new era of peaceful, constructive life.”

Chechen bloggers quickly joined the campaign. In response, a group of pro-war Z-bloggers began promoting Mount Elbrus, the highest mountain in Russia, as a rival candidate.

For example, the account Govorit TopaZ (138,000 followers) declared: “If you don’t vote for Elbrus, you’ll be paying Ukrainian prostitutes in Moscow saunas with a bill bearing Grozny-City. Vote for Elbrus — for aesthetics and culture!”

The channel Alex Parker Returns was even more incendiary:

The far-right organization Russian Community, meanwhile, called the potential inclusion of Grozny-City on the note “anti-Russian and Christophobic sabotage,” accusing it of erasing “Russian history.” The group contrasted it with the previous 500-ruble note, which featured the Solovetsky Monastery in Arkhangelsk.

On October 10, Kadyrov raised the stakes, announcing a raffle of 10 iPhone 17s among those who voted for Grozny-City. Around the same time, the nationalist figures backing Mount Elbrus received support from high-profile politicians. Deputy State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Davankov launched a contest of his own, offering prizes such as T-shirts and spa resort vouchers.

Elbrus and Grozny-City quickly pulled far ahead of the other contenders, including the Derbent fortress, the Chegem waterfalls, and Ingushetia’s Vovnushki tower complex. According to RBC, as of 9:00 p.m. Moscow time on October 11, Mount Elbrus led with 1,049,069 votes, followed by Grozny-City with 1,033,585.

On the same day, the Central Bank reduced the number of available voting methods from four to one. Kadyrov had previously encouraged people to vote once through each method. In response to the change, Chechen Information Minister Akhmed Dudayev accused the Bank of supporting nationalist figures and “fueling ethnic tensions.”

“A message to the Central Bank: if you’re not capable of ensuring fairness and objectivity, why did you launch this vote in the first place?” Dudayev said. Kadyrov reposted the statement.

On October 12, three days before the scheduled end of the vote, the Central Bank announced it was suspending the process.

“We encountered numerous attempts to use technical means to artificially boost votes for certain landmarks,” the Bank said in a statement. “This prevents us from drawing fair and objective conclusions from the vote.”

The Bank said it does not plan to cancel the vote entirely or remove any of the proposed landmarks from consideration. Instead, it pledged to revise the process to “eliminate opportunities for dishonest behavior” in a future round.